Beit Iba, Anabta

BEIT IBA,ANABTA, Monday 6 December 2004 AMObservers: Roni S., Rahel A., Herzliya E., Susan L. (reporting)Guests: Daniel T., Roni F. colour=red>Summary A watch with "nothing special" to report, "merely" more of a sense of permanence by the Occupation.07:40 Shufa Two weeks ago, we noticed a new a dirt trail – wideenough for a tank -- winding up the steep hillside. Today, there was an army position at the top, complete with bulldozer and soldiers walking around. Israeli police were on the road outside the settlements of Einav and Avnei Hefetz where giant electric company trucks and their crews were installing electricity pylons to replace the flimsy, temporary-looking posts. More "facts on the ground" in Samaria …07:55 Beit IbaJust before Beit Iba, a temporary roadblock, made of stones placed across the road, held up a line of eight vehicles heading out of village: but the soldiers were quick and easy. By the time we left , the rocks had been kicked to the side and there was little left of roadblock. The situation at Beit Iba itself was grim. The line of vehicles from lorries to donkey carts stretched back into the village, andthere were hordes of people on line too. But the soldiers, on thewhole, worked quickly and well, and there were often four of them, including the representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] , at the main checkpoint.08:10—There were seven detainees, three times as many as an hourlater. [Detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 or 35 who have no passage permits; recently, young women, too, have been detained. The detainees' ID details are phoned through to the General Security Services (GSS, also known as the Shabak or the Shin Bet, the Hebrew acronym for the GSS) for checking against a central list of security suspects and the answers are then relayed back to the checkpoints. This cumbersome process can take considerable time, and that can be prolonged even more if the soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before passing them on to the GSS , or if they behave in a similarly tardy manner at the end of the process, waiting until they have a batch of GSS clearances before they release individual detainees. Meanwhile, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint where the soldiers retain the ID cards until the entire process is completed]. G. , the soldier in charge, seemed unwilling to check detainees' documents; he was also unconcerned about the three students who were being detained as a punishment, well aware that he had up to four hours to deal with them.Different from previous watches: at least five or six veiled women werenot asked to reveal their faces, although a couple were prepared to comply if asked. 08:30 — We were approached by a taxi driver who told us his ID card had been taken from him yesterday afternoon, and he'd been told to come back for it. Three others, in the same position, had had their documents returned, but nobody seemed to know about his case, although hemaintained he recognized some of the soldiers who'd been on duty at the time. He had a copy of his ID, the number was phoned in to the DCO and,several hours later, we heard that he'd been told he'd have to get a new card: cost, time wasted, he need to earn a living – what's all that to an occupying force? And why? because the army yet again washed its hands of the whole affair.A truck loaded with huge black plastic vats had a red crescent [Islamic symbol, equivalent to the Christian cross or the Jewish shield of David] on its windshield and a sign – in Hebrew – proclaiming it a "milk truck". The milk was not checked, but donkey carts bearing the new season'sboots were. Delivering the milk, the shoes, the pittot, and the gas containers, an appointment to see the doctor, getting to university, visiting family, and so infinitely much more — all depend on the whim of the army.09:20 — G. finally dealt with some of the detainees: about half were sent back, the rest let through, but the group grew again. 10:05 Anabta There seem to be new restrictions regarding the use of the main road to Jubara. Vendors here told us that since yesterday (Sunday) there'd been no entry to or from Jubara, even for taxis with permits.